Local Baristas Join Forces to Aid Injured Coffee Comrade

Rhett Harkins, general manager of Price
Hill’s BLOC Coffee Company, plummeted 60 feet from a cliff while hiking
Haystack Rock in Kentucky’s Red River Gorge on Dec. 14. The injuries he
sustained included a broken ankle, femur, hand and shoulder, along with a
shattered heel. Luckily, he did not seriously damage his spine or head.

“It could have been a 300-foot drop if I
fell differently,” says Harkins, who returned to work Jan. 7. He
currently needs the aid of a wheelchair.

A fundraising competition for Harkins,
titled the “Thursday Night Throwdown: Put Rhett Back Together Again
Edition,” will pit local baristas’ latte-art skills against one another.
The proceeds from registered contestants, along with any donations,
will aid Harkins — who does not have medical insurance — with the
mounting financial strain of hospital bills.

A latte is a coffee beverage made with
fresh espresso and steamed milk, which, when poured carefully, can
create beautiful and often quirky images made with contrasting shades of
brown and cream; baristas are known to become quite adept at creating
traditional and original works of latte art.

Adam Shaw, lead roaster of Deeper Roots Coffee, was with Harkins when he fell.

“Rhett handed me his phone so I could get
a photo of him nearer the edge,” Shaw says. “Rhett wasn’t super close
to the edge, but slipped on an ice-covered rock graded toward the edge,
so he basically just slid 15 feet before falling off.”

“It was very beautiful where I landed,” Harkins adds. “I found a cave I had never noticed before.”

Shaw contacted emergency aid after he
realized he was unable to get to Harkins himself.

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And it took four hours
in rainy, 35-degree weather for a rescue crew to reach Harkins. He was
suffering from hypothermia, on top of his broken bones, but managed to
resist going into shock and remained conscious.

After a short hospital visit, Harkins was
taken home. A wheelchair ramp built by loved ones now helps him come
and go. In his living room there is a bed where a couch used to be, as
he is currently unable to go upstairs to the room he usually shares with
his wife.

This isn’t the first time the Harkins
family has been touched by the generosity of their community; just last
year their daughter was born several months early, resulting in
difficulties that were soothed by the kindness of friends and family.

Soon after the cliff ordeal, members of
Missio Dei, the church Harkins attends in Walnut Hills, arranged a
transportation van suitable for him in his current condition.

“To see the same folks and a lot of new folks come out of the woodwork to help me is amazing,” Harkins says.

“I believe that we have some incredible
coffee professionals here,” Shaw adds. “The infamous kindness of
Midwesterners fused with the small feel of our city has allowed those
professionals to maintain a fairly tight-knit community willing to build
into each other when needed.”

Deeper Roots Coffee, where Shaw roasts,
provides beans and blends to many of the city’s coffee shops, including
Harkins’ spot at BLOC Coffee Company. Shaw and his colleagues arranged
to raise funds to help with Harkins’ situation shortly after the
injuries occurred.

Any interested baristas need only show up
and register at the event Thursday; there is a $5 registration fee.
Contestants will be competing for prizes provided by La Marzocco USA
espresso equipment.

“The requirements to enter are just that
you’re willing to compete at a latte art competition and have enough
competence to steam milk,” Shaw says. “All friends and family are
welcome to come watch and hang out. We intentionally don’t want only
coffee nerds to show up.”

According to the hosts of the event,
there will be potluck finger foods, beer from Rhinegeist and Mt. Carmel
Brewing Company and “conversation for those not gifted in the art of
lactose manipulation.”

Will Harkins ever explore the hidden cave he found when he fell?

“I’d love to rappel back down to that spot,” he says, “when I’m able.”